Terry family: Gun report 'distressing'

The day after the release of a probe into Operation Fast and Furious, the cousin of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, whose death has been linked to the “gun-walking” operation, said Thursday it is “distressing” that Attorney General Eric Holder wasn’t informed about it.

“It’s very distressing that top officials in DOJ did not provide that information to the attorney general,” said Robert Heyer, who serves as a spokesman for the Terry family, on CNN’s “Early Start.” “Something was broken, something remains broken and we have to wait to see if this thing gets fixed.”

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Heyer’s comment followed the Department of Justice’s inspector general’s report on Wednesday that said 14 federal officials should be considered for potential disciplinary action in the wake of Fast and Furious and another, smaller border operation. The report also resulted in two officials at the DOJ leaving the agency. It absolved Attorney General Eric Holder of blame, saying he didn’t know about the operation until after the story came to light, following Terry’s death in December 2010. Holder was held in contempt of Congress by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives earlier this summer over the controversy.

“This whole Operation Fast and Furious, and the subsequent, immediate inquiry into Fast and Furious, based on … whistleblowers’ allegations, really, we believe, was a combination of incompetence and arrogance,” Heyer said.

The inspector general of the DOJ, Michael Horowitz, is expected to testify Thursday to a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

“It’s been almost 21 months since Brian was murdered. We’ve been calling for answers, been calling for the truth to come out, so we are very anxious to fully look at this report,” Heyer said. “Nobody should be doing a victory dance right now. Anything less than a sober reflection of the mistakes made and the negligence by many officials within the Department of Justice and [the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives], anything less than that is a disservice to Brian’s sacrifice.”